Saturday, January 8, 2011

Indian Batsman Gautam Gambhir Bought for $2.4 Million

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan paid a record $2.4 million to field left-handed Indian batsmen Gautam Gambhir in his Kolkata Knight Riders Indian Premier League cricket team.

Gambhir's was the opening sale in an auction of players in the southern city of Bangalore today in which another Indian all-rounder, Yusuf Pathan, was bought by the same team for $2.1 million. Former Indian captain Saurav Ganguly and West Indies batsman Chris Gayle did not receive any bids.

The Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament is a fast-paced form of the traditional five-day sport that features four-hour matches accompanied by blaring music between bowlers' deliveries and cheerleaders.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were the previous highest paid players in the league and went for $1.55 million in 2009, according to Agence France-Presse.

Robin Uthappa, another Indian batsman, was sold in the third session of the auction for $2.1 million to Team Pune. The auction of 350 domestic and international players ends tomorrow and unsold players will be put up for sale a second time.

The contracts with players are for two years and the team managements have the option to renew them for a third year on the same terms and conditions as the initial two years, according to a statement issued by the league.

The 10 participating teams have a total of $72.3 million to spend on players, according to the statement.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-08/indian-batsman-gautam-gambhir-bought-for-2-4-million.html



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